End-board fastening for wagons



(No Model.)

R. ALLEN. END BOARD FASTENING FOR WAGONS.

No. 412,941. Patented Oct. 15, 1889.

STATES UN ITE FFi CE ROBERT ALLEN, OF ARBELA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOJOHN L. RICHARD- SON, OF TUSOOLA, MICHIGAN.

EN D-BOARD FASTENING FOR WAGONS.'

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 412,941, dated October15, 1889.

Application filed July '7, 1888, Serial No. 279,848- (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.- Be it known that 1, ROBERT ALLEN, a citizenof the United States, residing at Arbela, in the county of Tuscola andState of Michigan, have invented a new and useful kind of End-BoardFastenings for the End-Boards of WagomBoxes, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in [o end-board fastenings,consisting of rods, a lever, and cranks, with plates and straps of metalfor holding the same in place, for the purpose of quickly and easilyfastening and unfastening the end-boards of wagon-boxes; and the objectsof my improvements are to provide end-board fastenings by which theend-boards of wagon-boxes can be instantly fastened in their placesbetween the sideboards of the box, and can also be instantly 2ounfastened for removal therefrom. I attain this object by the mechanismshown in the accompanying drawings, in which-=- Figure l is a view ofthe cast-metal plates by which the mechanism for fastening andunfastening the end-board is made fast to the end board, and also of theinner ends of the rods, with the clevises for attaching them to thecranks, and also of the inner end of the lever, with its cranks, formoving or 0 holding the rods fast, and also of frontal projections fromthe plates for receiving and holding the journal ends of the cranks.Fig. 2 is a full view of an end-board, with its rods and plates, and themechanism for moving 5 the rods adjusted. Fig. 3 is a partial View of aside-board to a wagon-box, showing the hook fastened thereto for thepurpose of catching into the slots or holes in the outer ends of theend-board rods, and also the position of the hooks in niches cut in theouter cleats of the side-boards, so as not to obstruct the grooves whichreceive the end-boards. Fig. at is a view of the outer end of end boardrods made with flattened and widened ends 5 perforated with slots orholes for dropping over the points of the side-board hooks when theend-board is inserted in the side board grooves and pressed down to itsplace. Fig. 5 is a view of a side-board hook for catching into theslotted ends of the end-board rods,

' rods are attached.

and also of the screw and of the hooks for fastening the same firmly tothe side-board by screwing it through the same and into the thickenedpart of an iron strap on the outside of the side-board and opposite thehook. Fig. 6 is a separate view of the lever and its cranks by which theend-board rods are drawn inward toward the middle of the endboard tofasten the end-board, and by which they are moved outward to unfastenit. Fig. '7 is a partial view of a sideboard with a part of its endcleat removed to show the position of the hook, and also toshow the ironstrap on the outside of the sideboard, with that portion of the strapdirectly opposite the po- 6 5' sition of the hook sufficiently thickenedto serve as a nut for receiving the screw end of the hook. 1

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The two plates A A are screwed or bolted to the end-board H in themiddle of and near the top of the same, and consist of two piecesinstead of one, in order that the journal ends of the cranks h b may beinserted in their holes or hearings in the projections to a. Theseplates are of metal, with the projections o a cast entire with theplate, or the projections may be bolted through plate and end-board. Thefrontal projections a a project far enough in front of the face of theplates to allow the cranks Z) I) to be turned around in their bearingswithout coming in contact with the face of the plates A A. The cranks bb are cast solid with the lever O, or fixed firmly therein, and aremoved by turning the lever C from right to left or from left to right,and when the le ver O is moved from its position on the right, as shownin Fig. 2, around to the left, as it appears in Fig. 1, the positions ofthe ends of 0 the cranks b b, to which the rods D D are attached bymeans of the clevises e e, are reversed, and the rods D D are moved adis tance equal to the distance between. the con ters of the ends of thecranks to which the.95

The lever O is about three inches in length, and its outer end is curvedto admit the finger for the purpose of mov ing the lever, which moves ina horizontal plane from right to left, or vice versa. The

end-board rods D D are attached to the cranks b b by means of theclevises e e, and are necessarily moved endwise by moving the lever 0.They are of metal, and their outer ends are flattened and widenedhorizontally, and holes or slots are cut through the flattened ends, asshown in Figs. 4 and 2, so that they may drop over the points of thehooks f f in Figs. 3, fi, and 5 when the end-board is inserted in itsgrooves in the side-boards and pressed down to its proper place.

6 e are clevises, by means of which the rods D D are fastened to thecranks b b, so as to turn thereon, these clevises e 6 being boltedthrough the inner ends of the rods D D,which are squared for thatpurpose.

f f are side-board hooks for catching into the slots g g in the outerends of the rods D D, and are secured firmly to the side-boards by beingmade with a screw end, which passes through the side-board and throughthe thickened portion of an iron strap J, Fig. 7, on the outside of theside-board.

g gin Figs. 2 and 4: show the slotted end of rods D D for dropping overthe hooks f f, which slotted ends are drawn tightly in to the bends ofthe hooks ff'byturning the lever C from its position in Fig. 2 halfaround to the left to its position in Fig. 1.

H in Fig. 2 is an end-board with mechanism attached, the outer ends ofthe rods D D being held in holes through the cleats of the end-board andthe inner ends of the rods D D on the cranks b b, which cranks are heldby the plates A A and their projections a a.

I in Figs. 3 and 7 shows construction of the ends of the side-boardswith the hooks f f firmly fastened therein by means of the thickenedparts of the straps J J.

J in Fig. 7 shows the iron strap used on the outside of the side-boards,having its part opposite the hooks f f sufficiently thickened to serveas a nut for holding firmly the hooks f f by their screw ends.

Operation: Place the lever O in line with the right-hand rod D. Thisextends the rods. Drop the end-board into its position between theside-boards. The slots in the outer ends of the rods D D now drop overthe points of the hooks f f. Throw the lever around to the left until itcomes in contact with the endboard. This movement draws the outer endsof the rods into the bends of the hooks and carries the opposite ends byeach other and across the axial line of the lever mechanism in oppositedirections. The lever 0 having now traversed more than one hundred andeighty degrees of a circle, the resistance of the rods, instead ofdrawing it back in the direction whence it came, draws it firmly againstthe end-board, and thus it is held fast without the aid of aratchet orother device, while at the same time, the rods being securely engaged inthe hooks f f, the end-board is held immovably in its place until thestrain on the rods is relaxed bythrowing the lever back.

I do not wish to be understood as claiming the invention of two rods orbolts instead of the single rod formerly used, nor as being the onlyinventor of a mechanism with eccentric 7o movement operated by a leverfor tightening and loosening such rods; but I am not aware that suchrods have ever been operated in fastening and unfastening end-gates byattaching their inner ends to a revolving mechanism fastened to themiddle of the end-gate that will, when revolved by means of its lever,not only carry the rod ends thus attached by each other to shortenlongitudinal extent, but will also admit of their crossing its axialline; nor am I aware that hooks with screw-shanks have ever been used inthe side-boards to engage the outer ends of such rods, by means of whichscrews the proper distance for engaging the rods may be maintained orregulated to meet any change occasioned by wear or warp of the boards.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In combination with end-boards and the 0 plates A A, the lever O, withits cranks Z) Z), the slotted rods D D, and the screw-shanked hooks f f.

ROBERT ALLEN.

Witnesses THOMAS ALLEN, RACHEL ALLEN.

